Tesla 2018Q4 Earnings Call - Going Bankrupt!!!

This was one of the most boring earnings calls at Tesla. Profits are up, margins are up, revenue is up ... stock is down ... etc... just like at any normal publicly owned tech company.


1. About going bankrupt, Tesla has to pay off a ~1 billion dollar loan in a few weeks, which can be covered without any problems from the increasing cash pile, which grew by about 900 million USD in the fourth quarter. End of story.


2. Tesla Model Y, the smaller crossover/SUV will be built in the Gigafactory in Nevada. About 70% of parts will be the same as Model 3. Targeting volume production by the end of 2020, prototype unveiling promised for March 2019.


3. Gigafactory Shanghai will mass produce Model 3 by the end of this year (2019), but that's just final assembly and paint. Most of the car will be shipped to Shanghai preassembled, in order to optimize shipping and assembly... and also to avoid paying the huge import tariffs. This way Tesla will also qualify for local incentives, so the price customers pay for Model 3/Y may fall by as much as 40-50%.


4. Tesla Semi production will begin soon in very small numbers and most of it will be used by Tesla. Last year they have bought many transportation companies for their own use, so they'll replace those diesel trucks first, do all the necessary testing, then ship to customers. Volume production is still far (1-2 years) away....


5. Model 3 production is focused on China and Europe right now. This may last for a few weeks or 1-2 months, then a batch for the US again ... then for China and Europe ...etc... as productrion line tooling has to be changed slightly depending on destination.